Videos

Photo: NASA / Public domain (US government work)

16 January 2003

Columbia STS-107

Seven crew, a 16-day science mission and the investigation that followed

Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry over Texas on 1 February 2003, ending the 16-day STS-107 science mission and the lives of all seven crew: Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board found that a piece of foam insulation from the external tank had struck the left wing's leading edge during launch.

9 video perspectives

Columbia STS-107: Foam Impact Test Blows Hole in Wing Panel

Archive footage from 7 July 2003 shows a foam block fired from a gun at a carbon-reinforced panel from shuttle Atlantis, leaving a hole.

Published 21 Jul 2015
Columbia STS-107: How Foam Damage Led to Seven Deaths on Reentry

A retrospective on the loss of space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, during reentry after a roughly two-week science mission, which killed all seven crew members.

Published 22 Oct 2021
Columbia Disaster: How ABC News Reported the Shuttle’s Loss

ABC News' Feb. 1, 2003 broadcast reported that Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry, killing all seven astronauts, about 16 minutes from home.

Published 1 Feb 2024
Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to the Shuttle’s Loss

A documentary on the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia on 1 February 2003, which killed all seven crew members on re-entry.

Published 8 Aug 2025

5 more on the mission page

Photo: NASA/Crew of STS-132 / Public domain

20 November 1998

International Space Station

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The International Space Station program began in 1998 with the launch of the Zarya module, the first piece of a station assembled from Russian, American and European parts. The facts list its outcome as in progress, and plans now call for it to be deorbited.

2 video perspectives

ISS Story: From Zarya’s 1998 Launch to Planned De-Orbit

A DW documentary on the International Space Station, whose first module, Zarya, was launched on a Proton rocket on 20 November 1998.

Published 7 May 2024
Why the ISS Will Be Deorbited at Point Nemo and What Comes Next

The video explains why the International Space Station is due to be deorbited by SpaceX around 2030 and sent into the sea at Point Nemo.

Published 22 Jul 2024

Photo: NASA / Public domain

11 February 1997

STS-82 Hubble Servicing Mission 2

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1 video perspective

STS-82: How Discovery’s Crew Gave Hubble Infrared Vision

Servicing Mission 2 to the Hubble Space Telescope launched on Feb.

Published 16 Feb 2021

Photo: NASA / Public domain (US government work)

2 December 1993

Hubble Servicing Mission 1

Eyeglasses for the Hubble Space Telescope

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On 2 December 1993 the shuttle Endeavour lifted off on STS-61, carrying seven astronauts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, whose main mirror had been ground to the wrong shape. Over five spacewalks the crew fitted corrective optics, a new camera, new solar arrays and new gyroscopes, and the telescope began to deliver sharp images.

2 video perspectives

Hubble Servicing Mission 1: Endeavour’s Repair of a Flawed Mirror

Servicing Mission 1 launched on December 2, 1993, aboard the space shuttle Endeavour to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, whose primary mirror had been ground too flat.

Published 2 Dec 2020
Hubble Servicing Mission: How Endeavour’s Crew Fixed the Mirror

A documentary on the first Hubble servicing mission, flown on Space Shuttle Endeavour, which set out to correct the telescope's flawed mirror and replace failing hardware.

Published 31 Oct 2021

Photo: NASA / Public domain (US government work)

28 January 1986

Challenger STS-51-L

Seven crew, the Rogers Commission and a joint seal

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Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff on 28 January 1986, ending mission STS-51-L and the lives of all seven crew: Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe. The Rogers Commission found that a seal in the aft field joint of the right solid rocket booster had failed.

21 video perspectives

Challenger: O-Rings, a Cold Launch Night and NASA’s Decisions

A Retro Report film from The New York Times on the Challenger disaster of Jan.

Published 2 Jun 2014
Challenger STS-51L: How Cold O-Rings Led to the 1986 Disaster

Challenger STS-51L, carrying seven crew including teacher Christa McAuliffe, began to disintegrate 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, killing all seven.

Published 20 Jul 2019
Challenger 51-L: O-Rings, a Cold Launch and the Decision to Go

A long documentary on the January 1986 loss of Space Shuttle Challenger on mission 51-L.

Published 19 Nov 2019
Challenger: How Cold-Shrunk O-Rings Led to the Booster Leak

The video recounts the Challenger launch, in which a flame from a solid rocket booster appeared 73 seconds after liftoff and the vehicle came apart.

Published 17 Apr 2022

17 more on the mission page

Photo: NASA / Public domain

5 September 1977

Voyager

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Voyager 1 and 2: From the Grand Tour to Interstellar Space

A documentary on the Voyager probes, launched from Cape Canaveral in 1977, following them past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and out to interstellar space.

Published 23 Dec 2023

Photo: NASA/JPL / Public domain

20 August 1977

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

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The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 mission, launched from Earth in 1977, sent two probes to the outer planets, with both launches reported to have run into trouble. The mission carried no crew and its outcome is recorded as a success.

2 video perspectives

Would a Voyager 3 Still Carry a Golden Record? Storage Compared

The video looks at the golden records on Voyagers 1 and 2, launched in 1977, and asks whether a hypothetical Voyager 3 would carry one today.

Published 31 May 2025
Voyager 1 and 2: Planetary Flybys and the Road to Interstellar Space

A documentary tracing the Voyager probes from their 1977 launches through flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to their journey beyond the heliosphere.

Published 31 Jul 2026

Photo: NASA Johnson Space Center / Public domain (US government work)

11 April 1970

Apollo 13

"Houston, we've had a problem"

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Apollo 13 lifted off for the Moon on 11 April 1970, and about 56 hours into the flight an oxygen tank in the service module ruptured. Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise used the lunar module Aquarius as a lifeboat, swung around the Moon and splashed down safely in the Pacific on 17 April.

18 video perspectives

Apollo 13: How a Wrecked Spacecraft Brought Its Crew Home

Apollo 13 lifted off on April 11, 1970, but an oxygen tank explosion about 200,000 miles from Earth ended its Moon landing plans.

Published 16 Mar 2012
Apollo 13: The Oxygen Tank Explosion and the Crew’s Return

This 1994 documentary follows Apollo 13 from its April 11, 1970 launch through the oxygen tank explosion on the way to the Moon.

Published 3 Mar 2018
Apollo 13: Oxygen Tank Explosion and the Lunar Module Lifeboat

Apollo 13 launched April 11, 1970, and was meant to land at Fra Mauro.

Published 2 Oct 2019
Apollo 13: Home Safe, Survival After the Oxygen Tank Explosion

NASA's documentary on Apollo 13 draws on interviews with astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise and flight directors Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney.

Published 11 Apr 2020

14 more on the mission page

Photo: NASA / Buzz Aldrin / Public domain (US government work)

16 July 1969

Apollo 11

The first landing on the Moon

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Apollo 11 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on 16 July 1969, and on 20 July Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module Eagle in the Sea of Tranquility while Michael Collins orbited above in Columbia. The crew splashed down in the Pacific on 24 July, eight days after launch.

4 video perspectives

Apollo 11: How the Saturn V

Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Published 23 Oct 2018
Apollo 11 Moon TV: The Slow-Scan Camera Behind the Broadcast

An explainer on how NASA sent live television from the Moon during Apollo 11's first moonwalk, watched by 600 million people.

Published 6 Jul 2019
Apollo 11: From Sputnik to the First Landing in the Sea of Tranquility

This documentary traces the road to Apollo 11, from Sputnik and Kennedy's 1961 goal through Mercury, Gemini and the early Apollo flights.

Published 3 May 2023
Apollo 11: Landing With 17 Seconds of Fuel and the Moonwalk

Part three of the PBS American Experience film Chasing the Moon follows Apollo 11 from the crew announcement through launch on July 16, 1969, the landing at Tranquility Base, the moonwalk and the…

Published 11 Aug 2026

Photo: NASA / Public domain (US government work)

27 January 1967

Apollo 1

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1 video perspective

Apollo 1: How a Pure Oxygen Cabin Fire Killed Three Astronauts

On January 27, 1967, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B.

Published 23 Dec 2025

TIROS 1

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TIROS 1: The First Weather Satellite and Its Fuzzy First Images

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's On Air series looks at TIROS 1, the world's first weather satellite, launched in 1960.

Published 10 Sep 2026

Photo: U.S. Space Force photo by Senior Airman Samuel Becker / Public domain

New Glenn NG-2 ESCAPADE

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New Glenn NG-2 Live: ESCAPADE to Mars and a Booster Landing Try

Live coverage of Blue Origin's second New Glenn launch, NG-2, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft toward Mars along with a Viasat…

Published 9 Nov 2025

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